“JERUSALEM – The biblical tale of David slaying Goliath is the grand archetype of giant-killer imagery, but new research suggests that those who believe David was the underdog might be wrong.”

This recent Reuters report is just one more example of the smug contempt with which 21st century “experts” artfully spit on the heroes of Western civilization.

“An Israeli neurologist said Thursday that after years of studying the biblical account, he has determined that Goliath suffered from a hormonal disease that put him at a disadvantage against the slingshot-wielding David.

“‘It was a miracle that such a small and young shepherd could defeat Goliath in battle,’ said Vladimir Berginer, a professor of neurology at Ben-Gurion University here. ‘But now I have found an explanation for it.'”

You see, folks, it wasn’t David’s faith in God that won the day. It was the fact, as Professor Berginer points out, that Goliath was actually suffering from a disease of the pituitary gland called acromegaly, which caused a tumor to swell against poor Goliath’s optic nerve.

Goliath, it turns out, was vision-impaired!

“I am sure that from time to time, Goliath did not see David because in the Bible it was written a few times that Goliath was very slow, but David ran,” Mr. Berginer said.

“The shepherd boy was darting and feinting so much,” concluded this illuminating Reuters report, “that the visually challenged giant ‘did not see David and was unprepared for the fatal stone.'”

So, I guess it was no big deal that David was able to slay Golilath. No need for God here.

This of course is right in line with other recent revelations. Some of our more “enlightened” Old Testament experts over the years have explained that when Moses crossed the Red Sea with the fleeing Israelites, the water may have been only a couple of feet deep, explaining how they were able to cross so easily. No need for God here.

Of course, this introduces the possibility of an even greater miracle – that the entire Egyptian army, in hot pursuit of the fleeing Israelites, could have drowned in two feet of water. But hey, let’s not quibble.

Look at our current stock of heroes. What about Ronald Reagan, who, according to C-SPAN, historians and the public alike have found to be one of the greatest presidents of this or any century?

The American public loved Reagan – the antithesis of Clinton, who for lack of moral leadership was ranked at the very bottom of both C-SPAN’s public survey and of the network’s
poll of 58 historians, while Reagan ranked up top with Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln.

For the first six years of Reagan’s presidency, the news media – profoundly opposed to his more conservative agenda – were unable to turn the American public against Reagan, nor could they even say much against him, for fear of losing credibility with the public, so popular was the 40th president.

But when the Iran-Contra scandal broke, the orgiastic feeding frenzy began. The big media pummeled Reagan without mercy for the last two years of his presidency. And then, throughout the ’90s, it endeavored to finish the job, painting the 1980s – one of the best decades in the last half of the 20th century – as “Reagan’s decade of greed.”

In 1990, Time magazine snubbed Reagan – the man credited by historians with having broken the back of the Soviet Empire – in its search for “Man of the ’90s” and named, instead, Mikhail Gorbachev, the communist dictator who, just a few years before, had dropped planeloads of bombs in the shape of toys into Afghanistan so little Afghani boys and girls could pick them up and maim or kill themselves.

Yes, there was a spiritual hatred of Ronald Reagan.

During the height of the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton scandal, when all the tabloids on every supermarket checkout were screaming, “BILL AND MONICA!” here came U.S. News & World Report with its 200-year-old scoop, “JEFFERSON AND SALLY!”

The allegation was that the third president and author of the Declaration of Independence had fathered a girl by slave Sally Heming. Whether or not the allegation is true, the obvious intent betrayed by the story’s timing was to create a moral equivalence between “Bill and Monica” and “Tom and Sally.”

“Hey, everyone does it. What’s the big deal?”

Speaking of the Declaration of Independence, here’s a story of another giant-killer at work. NBC’s “Today” show a few years back featured a handwriting expert who, after analyzing the Declaration of Independence, had determined that all of the signatures – all of them – had been forged by Benjamin Franklin. As proof of this brilliant detective work, he illustrated some technical discrepancy, such as the way the loop of one of the purported signer’s “h” differed from the loop on another “h” in a known sample of his handwriting. Well, you get the idea.

So not only is Thomas Jefferson an adulterer, but a liar as well. Hey, just like Clinton! Although we have always thought Jefferson authored the Declaration, this “new research” aptly demonstrated that he, and all the other purported “signers” of the Declaration, allowed Franklin to forge their signatures. In other words, the entire team of founding fathers, who pledged – and in many cases actually sacrificed – their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the sake of our liberty, were liars in allowing their names to be forged.

Why, you may well wonder, would NBC’s “Today” give national coverage to such a vile huckster? What is this kick, this thrill obtained by knocking down heroes, killing giants, discrediting great people that stand for great things, destroying people’s most cherished beliefs?

Why does the establishment media consider such drivel to be news? Why does someone with an absurd thesis like our friend the handwriting expert, or Goliath’s personal physician, get a free ride in the establishment news media?

Let’s skip ahead to the last chapter. Sometimes that’s the easiest way to solve a mystery.

Why did they put Jesus to death? If he was a perfect person – I mean, he healed the lame, raised the dead, and preached love and forgiveness – why did people hate him? Would he be hated if he was in our midst today? Who would hate him? Would you? Are you sure?

The experts, leaders and intelligentsia of His day hated Jesus so much they couldn’t wait to kill him. Why? Because he was good – the ultimate hero.

When faithless, proud egomaniacs are in the presence of people of faith and virtue, it literally makes them feel ill. It’s like the noonday sun for Dracula. He, quite literally, cannot stand the pain.

Who knows, maybe that is what hell is like. For a person who has hated God and goodness all his life, and lived in his own little dark, velvety counter-universe, to suddenly find himself in the presence of the light of God – unwillingly, with no physical body in which to hide through various pleasure and distractions – that light would feel like a burning fire.

But back to earth. This type of person experiences a joy, a buoyancy, an inner excitement, a feeling of actual growth, of becoming more important, a sense of fulfilling his destiny by confusing and misleading other people spiritually and mentally. How? By destroying their heroes – for most of us, a vital connection with reality.

Indeed, for most people, a single person who is a good example – whether it be father, mother, minister, teacher, friend, or the great men and women in history who have exemplified virtue, courage and perseverance – serves to cement our connection with sanity. If you were the devil and succeeded in knocking over every single hero, you would destroy the culture of God, cutting off the connection for the next generation with the great people and ideas of the past.

The truth is, a 7-year-old with his or her innocence, common sense and native wisdom still intact is more intelligent and has more wisdom and is a more reliable barometer of truth than all the experts this world has to offer – combined.

So do your kids’ souls a big favor. Read them stories from books like “The Children’s Book of Heroes,” edited by William Bennett. Tell them the stories of George Washington’s fervent prayers in the frozen woods of Valley Forge; about Jackie Robinson’s courage and self-control in overcoming racial prejudice and not only being the first black major league baseball player, but being named Rookie of the Year; Abraham Lincoln, who as a young store clerk walked six miles to return six cents to a woman he had accidentally overcharged; Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the needy all over the world; Helen Keller, who exemplified the triumph of spirit over the most severe physical limitations; and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, who proved the magic of perseverance.

Oh yes, I almost forgot.

And David, the giant killer. His story of courage and faith has re-lit a million dimming lamps, given strength in battle, faith in trial, and hope that despite enormous odds the forces of darkness cannot stand up to those who put their faith in the one true God.